DoC: U.S. steel imports from China rise 4% YoY in September

The year-on-year growth that month was widely anticipated, as a 25% tariff on Chinese steel products, imposed by the United States Trade Representative, officially took effect on September 27. Some U.S. traders and end-users secured their steel supplies ahead of the tariff increase, sources in the market noted.

Notably, the average price of steel imported from China in September surged to $2,001.8/t, reaching a seven-month high and significantly above the August 2024 average of $1,890.5/t and September 2023's average of $1,940.7/t, according to Mysteel Global's calculations based on DoC data.

The higher average price was mainly attributed to the optimism lifting China's steel market in September, spurred by Beijing's stimulus package introduced at the end of the month, which bolstered the entire Chinese ferrous market, as Mysteel Global reported.

Mysteel's export price index also reflected this trend. For example, Mysteel's Chinese rebar export index rose to $522/t on September 30, up from $472/t on August 30.

In addition, the average unit price for U.S. rebar imports climbed to $686/t in September, above August's average of $655/t, Mysteel Global calculated using the DoC data.

Despite the year-on-year increase, September marked the second consecutive month that China's steel exports to the U.S had declined, following the peak in July. At 29,328 tonnes, September's import volume was well below August's level of 35,487 tonnes, a 17.4% month-on-month decrease based on the DoC data.

The sharp on-month drop in imports was also seen in the total U.S. steel import volume for September, which fell to 1.9 million tonnes from 2.2 million tonnes in August, reflecting a softening of U.S. steel demand during that month, the DoC data showed.

Written by Adele Pan, panqinjie@mysteel.com     

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com